2035: I'll Always be Your Baby
by ChristianGateFan
Summary: Janet reflects on the past with her dauther while home at Thanksgiving. A tribute to the relationship between Daniel and his daughter Janet in my Time After Time story series. Is a songfic with the song "Always be Your Baby" by Natalie Grant.
1. Chapter 1

Well, this is just going to be a short installation of the Time After Time series. I was listening to my Natalie Grant CDs today, and her song "Always be Your Baby" wouldn't leave me alone, so out came this short song-fic-like continuation of the series. It'll only be two or three chapters, and it's a tribute to the relationship between father and daughter, Daniel and Janet. I hope you enjoy this begining, and please let me know what you think and if ya want the rest. :) Thanks!

2035: I'll Always be Your Baby

**Thanksgiving Day, 2035, 2:21 p.m.--Colorado Springs, Colorado--the Jackson home**

"Mommy, where'd grandpa go?" Alyssa pouted, crawling up into the kitchen chair beside her mother.

"I think he and your dad left," Janet told the four year old, before turning her attention back to the baby she was bottle-feeding in her arms.

Vala answered from across the kitchen. "They went to the store for me. Though it only required one of them; I don't know why the men must always go everywhere together."

"Charlie's with them, too," Adrian added, coming in from the living room with a book. He dropped into one of the remaining chairs at the small kitchen table. At sixteen, he was Janet's youngest sibling.

"Do we gotta go home after dinner, Mommy?" Alyssa asked suddenly. "I wanna stay here longer…"

"Home's just across town, silly," Janet chuckled. "You'll see grandma and grandpa again soon."

Adrian smiled and leaned forward toward his oldest niece. "And Christmas is soon. It'll be here before you know it and you'll be back here. If it helps, I'll miss you."

"Aww." Alyssa smiled and hugged him. "I love you too, Uncle Adrian."

He soon went back into the living room to read, and Janet was left with her mother and two daughters. Two daughters…Things had changed so much in just a few years. She didn't even live here with Mom and Dad anymore, not for a long time. She and Travis and their family had their own home, and their own careers at the SGC.

"How much longer is it gonna take to feed Lindsey?"

"Not much longer….ah. Yep, she's done," Janet said, setting the bottle on the table and wiping around the baby's mouth. "You were a hungry little girl, weren't you?" She was only a month old, too. "But anyway…why don't you go play, Alyssa?"

"I don't want to. I wanna stay here. Tell me a story."

"About what?"

"Anything. About…grandpa. You always got cool stories about grandpa, and old places and stuff. Yeah. About grandpa when he wasn't old."

Janet resisted the urge to burst out laughing. She exchanged a look with her mother, who was smothering a wide grin and hysterical giggle along with her. "Sure. I've got plenty of those."

She searched her memory for a good story she hadn't told, and found plenty. But before she knew what she was doing, Janet found herself lost in memories and forgetting her daughter beside her waiting for a telling.

* * *

_You were my first love_

_Always there for me_

_You taught me how to walk _

_And how to dream_

Janet always followed Daniel around the entire day after returning from any extended mission. Occasionally it was Vala instead, but more often than not it was her father she clamped onto. It wasn't unexpected of a three year old, but it was still amusing. This time they'd had to be gone almost a week, and Janet would _not_ let go of his leg.

Daniel chuckled and picked her up, which was the only alternative she would allow. "You're one string kid, you know that?"

"I misseded you," the girl pouted.

"What about Mommy?"

"Her too."

"Then why don't you go hang out with her?" he grinned. "I love you, but I'm never going to get ay of these translations done with you on my leg."

Janet blinked. "Tra-la-kun?"

"No, translation. But it's okay. You're only three."

She shook her head stubbornly, and her face twisted into a thinking look for a long moment. "Trans-la…tion."

Daniel's eyebrows went up. "That's good."

"Translation!" she exulted. "Daddy does translations!" Then Janet frowned again. "What that mean?"

He laughed again and turned her to look at the pictures of the artifacts on his desk in his office at home that he was working to translate. "See these symbols? They're in another language. That means it's from people who don't talk the same way we do. I have to know what these symbols mean, and put the message in English, our language, what we speak, so that we can understand it. Get it?"

"Ohhhhh." She nodded. "I think so…."

Daniel could see that he was never going to get her to leave now, so he stood with her, pulled over another chair, and sat her in it. "Okay. How about you stay here with me while I do it, and I'll tell you more."

Janet nodded enthusiastically. "I wanna know other langages! Daddy knows a lot of 'em, right?"

"Yep. I sure do. I can teach you sometime if you want," he told her honestly, happy that his only child was showing interest in what he did. Maybe it would fade as she got older but why not teach her while she liked it?

"Yay!" Janet clapped.

_God gave me your eyes_

_But it was you who showed me how to see_

_Now I can stand on my own_

_But I know you'll never let go_

"You've never let me on the roof before," Janet whispered as Daniel finished helping her up the ladder and on top of the house. In the dark, he pulled her farther on until they were sitting in a perfect spot to see the stars. They weren't deep in the city, so if one got up here it was still easy enough to see them relatively well.

"I know," he smiled. "But now that you know about the stargate, I thought it might be a good time to start letting you. But you're only seven, so you still have to bring me with you to come up here--for a while, anyway. Okay?"

She nodded and leaned back against him so she could see up better. Daniel wrapped his arms around her. They were silent for a long while, until she spoke again quietly.

"Daddy…am I ever going to have a brother or sister?"

That seemed to startle him a little. "Well…why do we need another kid if we've already got such a great one?" he joked.

She scowled. "Daddy, really. I wanna have a brother or sister."

"Maybe you will sometime."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"I hope so, anyway."

Janet smiled and fell silent again, until she asked tentatively, "You'll still love me the same if you have another kid, right, Daddy?"

Daniel's eyebrows went up. "Of course. If I had a _million_ kids I'd still love you just as much, silly."

She grinned. "Good." Then she turned around to look at the stars again. "So you really go out there all the time?"

"Yep. Maybe someday I can take you."

"Wow…"

_I'll always be your baby_

_No matter how the years fly by_

_The way you loved me made me_

_Who I am in this world_

_I'm a woman now, not a little girl_

"Daddy!"

Janet flew into her father's arms as soon he answered the door. "I'm home!" she exclaimed, laughing.

"Whoa!" Daniel chuckled, hugging her hard and trying not to fall over. "Hey, sweetie. We could have picked you up at the airport, you know."

"I know, but I didn't want you to go to the trouble. At least you listened to me and waited at home this time," she giggled. Vala came in from the kitchen, and she was wrapped around her mother next.

"I can't believe I've already been through three whole years of college," she sighed as she let go of Vala. "You know, I like Chicago, but I'm glad to be home for the summer. I'm even _more_ glad I already arranged to do my Masters and PhD from here. Doing a double major and being away from home most of the time can get stressful."

Daniel smiled fondly. "I bet. But you're doing a great job. We're so proud of you." He would have felt that way no matter what the double majors were in, but it made him even prouder that they were Egyptology and Linguistics.

Vala gave her daughter a peck on the cheek. "And it's hard to believe you're twenty already."

"Our baby's not a teenager anymore," Daniel added, smothering her with another embrace.

"Dad, dad! I get it! Can I please find my brothers now?"

"Janet!" Adrian and Charlie, her ten and eleven year old brothers, bounded out of the living room in typical fashion to meet her.

_Some things never change,_ she thought to herself, as she laughed and hugged both of them.

_Wherever this life takes me,_

_I'll always be your baby_

Janet dropped into a chair in the living room. "Travis isn't here yet," she grumbled.

Vala looked over from her perch on the couch where she was watching the news. "How many times this summer have you gone out with that boy?" she asked, smirking a little in amusement.

"It doesn't matter, and we are not _going out_," she told her. "We're just really good friends. I've known him since I was seven, you know. And he's not a boy. He's in his twenties."

"If you say so, dear."

"Janet's got a boyfriend! Janet's got a boyfriend!"

"Cool it, Charlie!" Janet barked at her brother as he ran through the living room and out again. He hurried up the stair to his room to get away.

The doorbell rang a moment later, and she practically leaped from the armchair and grabbed her purse. "There he is! Bye!" Seconds later, she was out the door and gone, leaving the house feeling like tornado had come and gone.

Vala shook her head. "That girl is acting like she's sixteen again."

Daniel, who had seen the whole thing from the kitchen, came to the doorway and leaned against it. He watched out the living room windows, grinning to himself, as Janet and Travis drove off.

"What's wrong with that?"

_You are my hero_

_And that will never change_

_You still can dry my tears_

_With just a smile_

"That's my girl," Daniel sighed happily, holding onto his daughter tightly and trying to keep the tears at bay at the same time. "Our first college graduate, Vala!"

Vala embraced her from the other side, and Janet pulled back a moment later and looked at both of them. "I couldn't have done it without either of you. Dad...you're the one who got me started on all of this tough. And hey, these are only bachelor's degrees! I've still got a long way to go," she grinned through her own tears.

"But you're going to do it from Colorado, which makes me even happier," Daniel smiled, and hugged her again.

"Thank you so much," Janet whispered.

With the ceremonies over, and most of her goodbyes already done, it wasn't too much longer before they were headed for the airport. Daniel leaned over and whispered to her in amusement as the call for their gate was made.

"We'd better get going. There's someone waiting for you at home."

_The one I've leaned on_

_From my first steps_

_To walking down the aisle_

"I still don't believe this," Janet cried with joy as she looked at the ring on her finger. She was sitting at the kitchen table, her parents hovering over her.

"I knew it wouldn't be long," Vala grinned.

Daniel sat down beside her and kept a hand on her knee. "Travis is a great young man. I'm so glad the two of you are going to be together," he smiled.

"Me too!" She scrubbed at her face to dry it. "But wow, was I not ready for this."

"Do you want to do this now?" Daniel asked gently.

"Of course! I just wasn't looking for him to ask me now. I just graduated and all…wow…"

From behind her chair Vala put an arm around her shoulders. "Are you all right, dear?"

Janet laughed and leaned against Daniel. "I'm more than fine…"

Daniel wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you, sweetheart. And we're behind you one hundred percent."

_Now there's another man in my life_

_But I know by the look in your eyes_

_I'll always be your baby_

They heard the music begin to play, and Janet's arms tightened around one of Daniel's. This wasn't the rehearsal anymore.

"Dad…Dad..." she said anxiously.

Daniel turned her around to face him, extracting his arm to put his hands on her shoulders. "Janet, deep breath," he commanded. She obeyed, and he continued. "You love him, and you're happy, and you're going to be _fine_," he smiled. "You're ready for this."

She relaxed and smiled and smiled at him. "How many weddings have you been in?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Ooo, that's hard uhm…mine, Jack and Sam's, Cam and Carolyn's, Skaara and Cassie's, this one…which about…enough," he chuckled. "But I'm happy to be here."

"I know you are," she sighed. Then she hugged him tight. "Thank you so much…for everything…I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too," he whispered.

The line moved in front of them, and they let go of each other and turned.

"Time to go," Daniel told her.


	2. Chapter 2

I'll Always Be Your Baby: part 2

Well, ya'll, here's the rest. :) I hope you like it, and _please_ do review if you do. I'd love to know, especially since this is a songfic, and more likely to be seen as dumb, lol. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

* * *

_I'll always be your baby_

_No matter how the years fly by_

_The way you loved me made me_

_Who I am in this world_

_I'm a woman now, not a little girl_

"Really? I'm in?!" Janet exclaimed incredulously.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at her. "What? Did you think _you_ wouldn't get it?"

"Dad it's Stargate Command. Not everybody gets to work there. Most people don't even know it _exists_, in case you don't remember."

He smirked a little. "So? You're my daughter."

She crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean I don't have to have the skills necessary to be allowed in the program."

"Ah, very true, but then you didn't just inherit my good looks," he winked.

Janet laughed and threw her arms around him. "Thank you so much, Daddy."

He held onto her for a moment before pulling her back to fill her in on the rest. "Though you do realize that this only means you're in the archaeology and linguistics department. That means at work, I'm your boss."

"Yes sir," she said, giving him a mock salute.

"You'll have to go through training a little later if you want to be part of an SG team."

"Which I do, of course."

Daniel smiled. "We'll see, I guess."

_Wherever this life takes me, _

_I'll always be your baby_

"Well, that didn't take long," Travis smiled at her as they made their way from the locker rooms out to the 'gate room. "You've only been working here a few months."

"And I'm just now twenty-one!" Janet grinned at her husband.

Daniel and Vala came down out of the control room. "And already part of an SG team," Daniel smiled proudly. The smile, though, wasn't without it's darker side. "I'm proud of you," he said quietly.

Janet sighed and hugged him tightly, then her mother. "Guys, I know this is hard for you. I haven't been through the 'gate since I was seventeen, and we all know what had happened then…" she grimaced.

Daniel looked at her for a long moment, and then really smiled. "You'll be fine. You're ready for this." He shook his head. "You were ready last time. You dealt with everything that happened better than I ever thought…It's not that I didn't believe in you, Janet. I guess I only underestimated you because I still wanted you to be my little girl. But you're not."

She blinked back a few tears. "Daddy…" She leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "You're right. I'll be fine." She smiled softly. "Thank you for believing in me," she whispered. "I never would have gotten here without you."

The red light above their heads spun on, telling them that the 'gate was opening and the rest of SG-13 was waiting for them.

"Get going," Vala smiled.

Janet and Travis went on into the 'gate room while Daniel and Vala went back up into the control room, where General Samantha O'Neill waited to give the order for them to go. Colonel Hailey, Cassie, and Skaara were waiting at the base of the ramp for their other two team members--one of them going on their first mission as a real part of an SG team.

"This is kind of ironic," Travis commented. "You were the one who had this before when I went through the first time."

"That was only a summer job," she pointed out. "And I'd only been doing that for about a month. You've been doing this regularly for more than four years now."

"Well, okay, true."

They all turned to look up through the control room's windows. Sam gave the order, and Daniel and Vala waved, along with the rest of SG-1 that was there to see them off. Janet waved back before climbing onto the ramp with her team, and heading through the stargate to new worlds.

_Your faith, your love, and all that you believe_

_Have come to be the strongest part of me_

_And I will always be your baby_

As soon as he heard the 'gate signal go off, Daniel stopped pacing the control room and focused his attention on the computer screens for the identification of the team coming through. The number was right; it was one of the teams that had gone out to find SG-13.

He'd thought that retiring with Sam and the rest of SG-1 and handing the SGC over to General Hailey would be easier. He'd felt good about handing the reins of being the SGC's flagship team to SG-13. Then this happened. Of, he'd known that Janet couldn't be part of an SG team without occasionally getting into trouble. But just because they were the frontline team didn't mean they had to get into the magnitude of trouble that SG-1 had, right? After all, that number had been retired. No one would ever be SG-1 again….so that meant no one should be getting into that much trouble, right?

Daniel didn't wait to see if they brought SG-13 with them. He hurried down the metal stairs and around into the 'gate room. Vala was at home, because someone had to watch Charlie, Adrian, and Cassie and Skaara's two children, Shara and Jack. Well, all right, Charlie was thirteen and could probably watch all of the younger ones, but with their parents missing they weren't going to leave Shara and Jack alone. Maybe Shara was twelve, but Jack was only six. They needed someone else.

Teams that had been out to find SG-13 had heard rumors from the people of friendly planets of their being captured. They hoped it wasn't true, but it had to be explored anyway. The fact that the teams that were coming back now were the ones that had been assigned to go into the place where they were supposedly being held by some begrudged enemy or another didn't make Daniel feel any better.

He felt even worse when he saw what came through the 'gate. It was the teams he'd thought it was--and they were even bringing SG-13 with them. But all four of them were on stretchers.

General Jennifer Hailey rushed in behind him, stifling a gasp.

"Oh no…" Daniel moaned.

"What happened?" Hailey demanded. "Tell me they're alive."

At least she could _say_ the word. But that was why she was in charge.

The commander of the team that brought them through approached the general and sighed like a bearer of bad news usually would. "Yes ma'am, they're all alive, but they're not in good shape." He saw Daniel standing there and cleared his throat, lowering his eyes. "I'm sorry, Dr. Jackson, but…I'm afraid Mrs. Heinmann's one of the worst off."

He didn't want to, but he looked down as the medical team that had run in just after them hurriedly carted the unconscious SG-13 from the 'gate room. None of them looked good. Their BDUs were dirty and torn, and from what of their skin he could see on their faces and hands, they looked beaten and bloody. True to what the colonel had said, Janet was the only one already being hooked up to a portable breathing apparatus.

Daniel had to look away as they disappeared down the corridor. He couldn't follow, and he couldn't think. He didn't what to see what happened in the infirmary, and he didn't want to know what had happened to them. Hailey started to drill the colonel for information, and he retreated to sit outside the infirmary until there was any word on their condition. Finally one of the nurses noticed him and told him that they were all going to be fine. It looked worse than it was.

That was when he called Vala to tell her what was happening, and then went to sit beside Janet's bed. Out of those clothes and cleaned up, she did look better, and she was stabilized. She was breathing all right. But the report he'd gotten also told of burns and bruised and broken bones. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be resting all right.

"I'm so sorry…" he whispered. "I wanted you to be able to do what you wanted to do…be out there. But I never wanted this…"

"Stop beating yourself up, dad," she answered softly, and he started. He hadn't realized she was awake at all.

"Janet…?" he asked, taking one of her hands in his gently.

She opened her eyes and blinked up at him, giving him a small smile. "This isn't your fault, you know. It comes with the territory."

"I know…" he swallowed.

Janet squeezed his hand. "I'll be fine, dad. I knew what I was getting into. I don't regret anything."

He had to smile at that. "I know you don't. Sometimes I wish you _weren't_ so much like me."

"Hey, it's the sincerest form of flattery." She laughed a little, but grimaced and stopped quickly. "Ow. Okay, bad idea…"

Daniel reached up and pushed her hair back. "Whoa, easy…be careful."

"Dad," she scolded. "I'm fine. Now stop feeling bad."

"All right…" he said quietly.

"Are the others okay?"

He huffed. "They're better than you are."

"Good," she smiled.

Daniel stood to reach her forehead, and kissed it gently. "I love you."

_I'll always be your baby_

_No matter how the years fly by_

_The way you loved me made me_

_Who I am in this world_

_I'm a woman now, not a little girl_

Janet was smiling uncontrollably as she handed the newborn baby to her father. "There you go, Dad," she told him as he and Vala gaped. "You're grandparents. Her name is Alyssa." Travis was sitting on the edge of her hospital bed, and she settled back tiredly into his arms and watched happily as her parents crooned at her first child.

"She's so cute," Vala laughed.

Daniel smiled tearfully. "She's our daughter's kid; what'd you expect, grandma?" Vala punched his arm playfully, and he handed over the baby. Vala held onto her while Daniel sat on the edge of the bed and leaned to embrace his daughter.

"That's my girl."

_Wherever this life takes me, _

_I'll always be your baby._

"Mom? Mooooom."

Janet shook her head to clear the thoughts and looked down at Alyssa, whose arms were crossed in annoyance. "Sorry," she apologized. She kissed the top of her daughter's head. "You know what? Why don't I tell you a story later? I need to go put Lindsey down for a nap."

She pouted a little, but then shrugged. "Okay. I'll go find Adrian." With that, she climbed down out of the chair and ventured out of the kitchen.

Janet stood slowly with the baby still in her arms. She went to pick up the empty bottle to drop it in the sink for later washing, but it was already gone. "What…?" She looked around, and saw that Vala was at the sink, already washing it.

"Where have you been, dear?" she smiled knowingly.

She sighed. "Sorry, mom. I would have gotten that."

"I know; it's all right. Now go lay that baby down so she can get some sleep."

Janet looked down at her younger daughter and grinned. "I think she already is."

Because she was already asleep, all Janet had to do was lay her down in the back room before coming back up front again. That was when the front door opened, and the men of the house returned.

Instead of going for Travis, Janet went straight to her father and threw her arms around him tightly before he even had his coat off. "Hey dad."

Daniel chuckled, a little more than startled. "Well…hi, Janet. What's up?"

She kissed his cheek. "Oh nothing. I love you so much, Daddy."

He returned the embrace happily. "I love you too."

_Always be your baby girl_


End file.
